You Don't Have to be Alone
by Dice
Summary: Ron, Hermione and Harry have all been out of Hogwarts for a while and have moved on in their lives, but one thing keeps two of them trapped in the past. If there's one thing the group needs to do, it's make sure no one's alone on Christmas. (R/H, H/G)
1. Anxiously Alone

** You Don't have to be Alone   
By Katie **

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own any character from the _Harry Potter_ series. J.K. Rowling has the honor of that. I must also state that no money is being made from this fanfiction. Clearly, since you're reading this, you know that this is fiction! Did you catch that? **_Fiction!_**

**Author's Note: **All right, you hear it from me. I absolutely love the _Harry Potter_ series and I have to say that Ron is my favorite character so… this story is obviously going to be about him. Sorry to burst your bubble if you're for H/H 'ships. Not that I'm not or anything, I just think R/H are even more precious! Well, I hope you enjoy it! Remember to Review please. 

**.:*:. Anxiously Alone .:*:.**

Five years is a really long time to be alone. Hermione watched out of the window in her small but homey apartment as snowflakes fell from the dark sky. For some reason, Christmas was a very difficult time for her to face. After Hogwarts, Ron, Harry, and Hermione hadn't really kept in touch. Hermione had jumped right into a career at the Ministry of Magic, as well as Harry, who decided he'd do something he was good at, which just happened to be practically saving the entire world from all evil- he became one of the most famous Aurors there was. Although, Ron hadn't really been very motivated to do anything with the rest of his life. All through school he'd been the one that hadn't taken school very seriously. 

After a while of staring out the window and then staring at a massive amount of paperwork Hermione decided that she'd go to bed. It wasn't like she was accomplishing anything anyways. After all, even though she had loads of work she should've been doing, she just couldn't get it done. She sighed after looking at the paperwork again and walked towards her bedroom. She dragged her feet to the chest of muggle clothes and pulled out her pajamas. She then slowly changed her clothes. She even dropped her work robes on the floor, as if she was too worn out to put them away properly. As soon as she was finished, she pulled down the covers to her bed and climbed in, only happy because the day would be over. Not long after she turned her light off and rolled on to her side to finally go to sleep, she heard a light tapping to her living room window. At first she thought it was just a twig, but then thought harder and concluded that there were simply no trees near that window. Not only that, but the sound was getting louder, as if it were impatient. 

She sighed deeply and stalked over to the window. For something to disturb her almost-would-be-slumber, they were going to have to pay. She opened the window lazily and a small, hyperactive owl came tumbling in, landing on the floor. "I thought for sure you'd be dead by now, or at least calmed down." She muttered. "Come on, Pig." She grabbed the letter that he'd carried and walked back to her room. Once she flicked on the light, she sat on the bed ready to read the note. She knew who it was from, judging from the psycho owl rolling around on the floor by her bed, but she didn't expect she'd actually stop breathing for a moment when she saw his handwriting. It hadn't changed a bit. It was still the same scribbles he liked to call words. 

Hello, 'Mione.   
Hope this got to you in time, poor Pig, he's even more crazy than before. Anywho- how are you? I haven't heard from you in a while. Hopefully you're not working too hard. Dad said that it's been really busy over at the ministry…. He's been swamped. Not that I'm at home all the time, just when I am there, you know, he's just busy.   
All right, well, Mum was wondering if you'd like to spend the holiday with us. She said that you might be alone because your parents are away or something of the sort. If not, I guess, that's fine too. Well, if you can, owl us back.   
With love,   
Your Friend,   
Ron. 

Hermione must've read the letter three times before thinking anything. Did he really write _'with love'_ then cross it out? How dare he? He didn't even really _try_ to make it go away. If he truly wanted it to go away, he could've done a better job of crossing out or even put a charm on it. And using the nickname from when they were dating? _How dare he?_

She got off her bed and stomped over to her desk where she got out some parchment and a quill and wrote: 

Eat Slugs, Ronald Weasley. Oh wait, you have. 

She folded it up quickly, but just as she was about to hand it to Pigwidgeon she decided he probably meant no harm and caught himself after he had already written 'with love'. So, after a bit of self coaching in breathing, she sat down to write a proper letter. After all, they were still sort of friends. 

Ron,   
Thank you for thinking of me, or maybe I should be thanking your mother. Whoever I'm thanking, thank you. It's great to hear from you and no, they're not working me too hard. 

She sighed, knowing she was lying, then glanced down at her work robes which were still on the floor. She'd pick them up later. She wasn't very sleepy anymore. 

I enjoy what I do.   
Anyways, I'd love you join you for Christmas. I don't know how long I'll have off, but I can check. As for Pig, he is a little wild, but at least he's happy. Don't worry, I don't think he got lost or anything on the way, and the letter remained undamaged. Hats off to Pig.   
So, how are you? What are you doing now? You're not still at the Magical Menagerie, are you? I know that animals are pleasant, but don't you think you should think about your future? The last time I talked to Ginny, she said that you were offered a job at the Ministry. How did that go? I haven't seen you around…   
How's Harry, by the way? I haven't heard from him lately either. Probably because I'm a horrible pen pal. I just haven't had a lot of time, not that we're really in touch. Tell Harry and Ginny, if you can, that I say hello and congratulate them on going on however many years it's been.. 

Well, I better be going. It's getting late.   
~Hermione Granger 

"All right, Pig, here you go." She said quietly, and tucked her note to him away. "Calm down." He rolled on the floor excitedly and making all sorts of noise, and continued to roll until they reached the window. "Please don't get lost." She whispered, watching the tiny, brown owl make its way into the night. 

.:*:. 

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley shouted over the noise in the Burrow. "You sent Hermione a letter, right?" 

"Yes, Mum." He nodded. He dropped down into a chair at the table. "I didn't get one back yet, though." 

"Mum, what time is it?" Ginny called from the stairs. 

"Almost noon, dear." She called back. "Don't worry, love, she'll write back. She's just been busy." 

"Bloody Hell, Mum." Ron groaned, bumping his head on the table, trying to get his arm. "You're not still on about how I love Hermione, are you?" 

"Of course not, dear." She shook her head, turning her head to the 'clock' that told where each member of the family was. Percy was just about in the door. "Hello, Percy." She said to him, kissing his cheek. "Harry's coming for Christmas too, right Ron?" She didn't look at him, she smiled lovingly at Percy and helped him inside. "Your room hasn't changed, go ahead and put your things up there."

"I think that's what Ginny said." 

"Arthur, you're going to be late." She shouted to her husband who was outside, looking at some newly found 'toys' he'd found. "You'd better get back to the Ministry. Your lunch hour is about over." 

"All right, dear. I'll see you later then." He made his way inside to say goodbye to everyone else. "Ah, Percy, how are you? When did you get here? Did you see all of the toys I've found?" 

"I'm fine, Dad." He nodded, shaking his father's hand. "I just got here, don't worry. You'd better get going." 

"All right, goodbye everyone!" He waved to the three people who were in the kitchen and went back to work. 

"Can I get you anything, darling?" Molly asked Ron, who was looking rather perplexed. 

"No." He answered. 

He stayed seated, with his head resting on his arm, for a long while before standing up and heading for the door again. If his mother had said anything to him in the time he'd been looking at the floor or wall, he hadn't heard anything. Just as he was about to open the door to leave, he was faced with his own owl, Pigwidgeon. He was causing quite a ruckus, shrieking and flying around the house. When Ron finally got the letter, he opened it quickly and read it to himself silently. 

"Is that from Hermione?" Ginny asked. When had she come downstairs? How long had he been staring off into space? 

"Uh, er, yes." He said, folding the letter back up. "Yes it is." 

"What did she say, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked, finally sitting down at the table. She clasped her hands together on the top of the table. "May I see it?" 

"She said she'd come for Christmas." He answered. 


	2. Precious Memories

** You Don't Have to be Alone   
By Katie **

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own any character from the _Harry Potter_ series. J.K. Rowling has the honor of that. I must also state that no money is being made from this fanfiction. Clearly, since you're reading this, you know that this is fiction! Did you catch that? **_Fiction!_**

**Author's Note: ** All right. First off, let me say this: YAY!! I got some reviews!! I'm so excited. Seriously, when I saw that I had just two I freaked out, to say the least. Well, my other _Harry Potter_ story bit the big one, it sucked, and well, no one liked it… at all. Don't worry though, this has a happy ending. So now I've got this whole new perspective on the _Harry Potter_ characters relationships! As a result of this epiphany, I've finally come to my senses and think that Ron and Hermione belong together and I'm ready to write a wicked great story, so if you're ready too, then let's get going! 

**.:*:. Precious Memories .:*:.**

Later that week Hermione received letters from multiple members on the Weasley family, including Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. She also received one from Harry. She gave Mrs. Weasley the information about the time she had off, and also declined an invitation to stay at the Weasley's house during her break. Ginny wrote to her about the update with the never-ending job search for Ron, how she and Harry were doing, and what they should do while Hermione is spending time with her family. They'd agreed on shopping and eating. Not to mention she'd be getting plenty of sleep. Harry had written her apologizing for the lack of communication between the two, and also stating that he'd heard from Ron that they'd all be spending the holiday together; just like old times. He promised that they'd stay in touch even after Christmas and they'd all get together more often. "For being best friends practically since we can remember, we sure don't see a lot of each other anymore, so we should get together." He said in his letter. She couldn't wait to see him. 

During school Harry helped out a great deal with Ron and Hermione's relationship. Even though many thought that once both of them finally got over themselves enough to admit to the other that they indeed liked each other in that special way the bickering would stop between the two of them, but no. It hadn't really changed except for the fact that they held hands wherever they went when they were together, kissed goodnight, kissed before they had to be separated, and broke rules for each other. Yes, Hermione Granger, head girl, broke the rules… for a boy. 

But that was a long time ago. 

Tonight was the first night of festivities at the Burrow. Hermione couldn't help but notice that she actually had butterflies in her stomach, to say the least. She was already late, true they wouldn't mind, but she still didn't want to be late the very first night after a very long time of not seeing each other. She could just apparate at the burrow, or she could go by floo- powder, but she could use the time in the car alone. She glanced in the mirror once again, she never was one to be obsessed with looks when she was younger, but now all she could think about was how she looked at that very moment. Her once frizzy, big hair had calmed down a lot, and now were soft, flowing curls and she only had a touch of make up on. 

After her time in the car on the way to the Weasley's she'd gathered her thoughts and was calm. She parked her car and took one deep breath before taking the steps inside. Once she reached the door she knocked and waited for someone to answer. The door swung open and Hermione was met with a bright red haired girl with a big smile on her face. Ginny held out her arms and pulled Hermione in for a hug. 

"Oh I'm so happy you're here!" She said cheerfully. 

"Hi, Ginny." She laughed uncomfortably. "It's nice to see you too." 

"Oh, enough with all of this formality!" She exclaimed. Ginny then dragged Hermione behind her to where everyone was gathered. "Look whose here everyone!" 

Hermione smiled, "Hi." She glanced around the room to see if Ron was there yet. _Of course he's here. This is his house, Hermione. Maybe you shouldn't think stupid thoughts._ But she didn't see him. She didn't see Harry either. Where were they? Were they together? Were they okay? Did Ginny know? Her brain was asking rapid fire questions to her that she didn't know the answers to and she was tensing up. _He's probably just… in another room for a second_, she tried to assure herself. It was almost too much, but when Mrs. Weasley stood up to give her a hug and take her coat she felt herself loosen up. "Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Weasley." 

"Oh, nonsense." She smiled. "This was Ron's idea, dear. Come along, we'll go hang your coat up." 

"Oh, all right." She answered. She followed Mrs. Weasley to the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley had already hung up her coat. "What do you mean this was Ron's idea?" She couldn't help but wonder, except it unintentionally came out as a question directed towards his mother. 

"Nothing really. He just suggested we invite you for Christmas because he had a feeling that you'd be alone, that's all." She answered, as she got a glass out from a cupboard for Hermione. "Would you like anything to drink?" 

"Um, no thank you." Since when had she become so unconfident? She'd always known what she wanted and where she was going to end up, basically she had planned out her entire life. The downside was, this part of her life happened to not be in the plan. 

"All right, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, handing her Hermione her a glass anyways, "Let's go back into the other room." 

The two women made their way back into the living room and both sat down. Hermione found a seat next her Ginny, who quickly jumped into conversation. Hermione wasn't paying attention for most of it. She would randomly interject with yes's and uh huh's every now and then. She couldn't keep the statement that Mrs. Weasley had said, "Oh, nonsense. This was Ron's idea." It was difficult to make her brain not wonder if it was truly Ron who wanted to see her after all this time. If it was, then he knew what time she was going to be at his family's house, but why wasn't he there? Just as she was coming up with reasons that he wasn't there, such as he'd gotten in an accident or something as impossibly lame like he'd gotten lost, he was already in the living room, with Harry close behind. 

"Harry!" Ginny screeched, "You're home!" She jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around Harry's neck. She kissed his cheek a couple times and hugged him closer to her. 

"Hi, honey." He said with a sincere smile. "I've missed you." He told her quietly. "I've got to go overseas again, remind me to take you with me." They let go of each other finally and Harry at last noticed Hermione's presence. "Hey, Hermione." He said, coming closer to her. 

She stood up to greet him with a smile. "Hi, Harry." 

"It's been a while." He stated. Hermione nervously glanced down at her shoes and then looked back up. "It's great to see you," he finished. 

"It's great to see you, too." Hermione couldn't help but notice that Ron was saying hello to his entire family before coming even close to Hermione. Before she knew it, Harry had brought her in for a hug. Once they let go of each other, it was finally the part she was nervous and excited about. She was face-to-face with Ron… after almost 2 and a half years. 

"Happy Christmas," he wished her, as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Early, I mean." 

"Happy early Christmas to you." She nodded, with a half smile. 

It felt as though the entire room was watching awe-struck as the pair exchanged hellos. It felt like the whole world just stopped to watch them interact. Hermione racked her brain for something say. She came up blank. She was usually quick on her tongue, but right now she was at a loss for words. She giggled anxiously to maybe break the annoyingly awkward silence. Ron cleared his throat again, and Harry immediately brought the attention upon himself to break the silence with a very lame joke, but at least it got the attention off of Ron and Hermione. 

"You look good." Ron said, almost with feeling. Almost. 

"Thanks." Hermione accepted his compliment graciously. "You look good too." 

"Okay, well, I guess I'm gonna go sit down then." 

"All right." She sat back down in her seat and shut her eyes tightly. 

.:*:. 

After a while at the Weasleys and after dinner, Harry took Hermione aside, meaning he brought her outside to talk for a bit. Even though she'd grabbed her coat, it was still colder than she thought it would be. She didn't even remember it being that cold outside. 

"Harry, what is it?" She asked, knowing exactly what was coming. 

"I cannot sit back and watch you two dance around each other like you two are complete strangers." He told her. "You two are my best friends in the world and I'd do anything for either one of you, you know that. And I'd help you with this if I could, but I knew that if I told you that Ron was the one who wanted to have you spend Christmas with him and his family he'd essentially hate me, so I didn't." Hermione started to shiver and shake because of the frigid temperature. "Hermione, it kills me to see you two acting this way." 

"Harry, I don't know what to say." She whispered, her teeth chattering. "I don't know if I would've come if I knew this was Ron's idea." 

"Why wouldn't you have come?" He exclaimed. 

"Because, honestly, I'm not ready to be around him." Harry opened his mouth to interject again, but she held her hand up to silence him. "You saw how uncomfortable it was when we saw each other for the first time in a long time. It never ever was that bad before. Even after we broke up!" 

"Yeah, it was uncomfortable. I didn't know." He said, shaking his head. "I didn't know it'd be like that… I'm sorry." 

"It's not your fault." Her teeth started chattering again. She brushed a few curls out of her face because of the gust of wind that just blew. "I'm really cold and I just want to go home." She confessed. She tried to blink back her tears that came out of nowhere, but they were just overflowing. They were now unstoppable. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, "I hate Christmas. I don't have a family, I don't really have friends, I don't have anyone special to spend it with, and I'm alone. It's just me." 

"You have us," Harry reminded her. 

It was always really hard on Harry to see her cry. After Ron and Hermione started dating he'd gotten to the point where he felt like he needed to protect her. Which was strange because she had Ron there for that, but at the same time it was Harry who she came to when she and Ron had a fight. And as more and more fights happened, it started taking a bigger toll on him than he thought it would. He'd watched her cry her eyes out because Ron might've laughed at a joke that she was the center of, or maybe he'd unintentionally blow her off, but whatever it was that made her heart ache, it made Harry hurt as well. 

"We don't see each other all the time. I don't have you there with me twenty-four-seven." She whimpered softly. 

"Well, I guess you're right." 

"Since my parents died, I've basically been on my own." She told him, even though she knew he knew. "Not that I've minded, I mean, yes I miss my parents, but I've always been very independent. I've worked hard to be where I am in my life, and yet, I'm still not happy. Believe it or not, I had my life planned out. Everything was mapped out down to the day practically. All right, I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean. I knew what my life looked like. I knew what my life looked like when I was seventeen. And now I'm what, twenty-two and I'm a workaholic with no social life at all." 

"Harry, Hermione, we're gonna drink some hot chocolate and play charades… that muggle game." 

"We'll be inside in a minute, Fred." Harry answered. 

"All right." He nodded. "It's freezing out here, guys. How can you stand it?" 

"I'm not," Hermione sort of laughed. She was grateful that Harry had told him that they'd be in a minute because she was sure she looked like she'd been crying. 

"We'll work on that." Harry smiled half-heartedly. "We'll make it so you feel like your old self. I'll help you." 

"Thanks, Harry." She said, still not too confident. What was he going to do? Cast a spell, and poof, all of a sudden a knight in shining armor would ride up on a white horse? Yeah, right. 

.:*:. 

By the time Harry and Hermione got inside, everyone was sitting around the very large table in the kitchen. Of course there were two seats, left with a spoon magically stirring their hot chocolate. Harry took the seat next to Ginny, leaving Hermione to sit in the seat next to George and Mrs. Weasley, conveniently situated across from Ron. Just then the whole room burst into laughter at a joke or story that Hermione had definitely missed the punch-line of. Ron could tell my the expression on her face that she'd felt bad for missing the joke, but tried to shrug it off with a sad smile. What had Harry told her? Why wasn't the night turning out like he wanted it to? 

Not once had he said what he wanted to, and not once had he made a special effort to bring her back into his family. He'd let her sit by herself, be forced to laugh at the stories that Fred and George told, and listen to his mother rant about how hard she'd been trying to wash the dishes the muggle way. Mrs. Weasley had gone into explaining that she was setting up new challenges to overcome every week because all of the kids were out on their own now and she had a lot of free time. Hermione had also heard how Mr. Weasley had retired, but since he got bored not know everything about muggles that he would still go into the office and do some work. 

"Mum," Ginny interjected, "Do you think we could open just one present?" 

"I don't know." Mrs. Weasley answered, looking at her husband, "What do you think, Arthur?" 

"I think that's a brilliant idea, Ginny." He looked back to his wife with a smile. 

"All right, just one though, we have to save some for Christmas." 

"I didn't bring my presents with me tonight." Hermione said quietly. 

"That's fine, dear." Mrs. Weasley assured her. "We should save yours for later anyways." 

Once they were back into the living room, Mrs. Weasley kindly handed out the gifts to everyone in the room. Hermione had received one that was wrapped very differently than everyone else's. It was wrapped in newspaper, a muggle newspaper no less. She examined it before slowly untying the red ribbon. There was quite a bit of tape holding the corners together but surly, Hermione got through. She couldn't help but notice there wasn't a tag saying who it was from. All it said what her name, sloppily written, but even the handwriting she couldn't place. Once she'd gotten it open she felt a huge smile cross her face. There was another box with her name on it, but a card attached to the top. 

_ To Hermione   
With love on Christmas, from Mr. & Mrs. Weasley. _

She lifted the box top off and she saw a book of some sort. She lifted the book from the box and opened it up. On the very first page was a picture of Hermione, Ron and Harry all together during their first year at Hogwarts. She felt herself tear up, but willed herself not to cry. She turned the page and saw more pictures of their childhood. When she looked up to see the rest of the room showing each other their gifts, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley smiled and her. Hermione stood up and gave each one a big hug. 

"Thank you." She whispered, wiping her eyes. "It's beautiful. I love it." 

"You're very, very welcome, darling." Mrs. Weasley said, beaming, "I knew you'd like it." 

"How was my wrapping?" Mr. Weasley said, smiling ear-to-ear with triumph. 

"Fabulous." Hermione laughed. "You did a very good job." She hugged the older man once again before Harry approached them giving Hermione another hug. 

"What'd you get?" Harry asked. 

"A photo book." Hermione said holding it out to show him. "It's got a bunch of pictures of us growing up." She opened it up to show him the first picture then flipping through the next few pages. 

"Oh look at this one." Harry said, turning the page. "That's Ron and I playing quidditch the summer after fifth year." Soon after Ron heard his name for the third time he came over to see what they were looking at. He took a seat next to Hermione, who was in the middle holding the precious book. 

"Oh, remember when that bloody bludger hit me square in the stomach?" Ron winced, clearly remembering the pain he suffered through. 

"Yeah, yeah I do." Harry laughed. 

"I remember I was so worried about you." Hermione giggled. "Harry had sent me an owl right away saying that you were hurt and I wrote back as soon as I could saying that I'd be out to see you soon." She shook her head, smiling. 

They turned the page, and immediately broke into laughter again. Sure enough, it was an after picture of all three of them together after Ron was hit. He was laying on his bed with a look of pain on his face. Both Harry and Hermione were sitting on the side of the bed, Hermione by his head and Harry down by his feet. Hermione was holding onto his hand tightly and Harry couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Fred was slightly in view, clearly meaning that George must've taken the picture. 

"I didn't know you took a picture of _that!"_ Ron complained. "I look so pathetic." 

"That's what I was telling you." Harry cut in. "No one believed me." He told them, shaking his head in mock despair. "You were complaining, and you," he said, pointing at Hermione, "wouldn't leave his poor pitiful side. And to think you kept telling me to be sympathetic… that's what you get, both of you." 

"Shut up, Harry." Ron laughed. 

They continued to laugh at the next few pictures, but then it became uncomfortably silent between the three of them. They'd reached Christmastime during their sixth year at Hogwarts. Both Ron and Hermione were painfully quiet as they flipped through the photos of the two of them. Harry tried his best to keep the atmosphere light and happy, but it would only last so long. Hermione hoped they were reaching the end of those pictures. When she looked down again she saw one of them sitting close to each other on the couch holding hands and cuddling. It was bizarre to look back at pictures like that. Pictures that documented the love that they shared. 

Once they'd passed the Christmas pictures, they'd gotten back into weird things that they'd done during school, but still there was Ron and Hermione holding hands, or hugging in almost every picture. For Ron it was difficult to see Hermione wince when she saw pictures of just the two of them. He didn't know what to do to make it seem less awkward. 

Finally they'd finished going through all of the pictures. Hermione stood up and thanked Mr. & Mrs. Weasley once again for the photo album. She also thanked them for the evening, but told him that she should probably get back home. She said good night to everyone, and told them she'd see them all later. 


End file.
